


Out of the Dark

by prettyghostboys



Series: Julie and the Phantoms Advent Calender 2020 [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Day 2 - Candlelight, Family Bonding, Gen, Rose Molina (Julie and The Phantoms), Takes place after season 1, jatp advent, theyre still ghosts, tiny touching scene at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27845641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyghostboys/pseuds/prettyghostboys
Summary: A power outage has Ray sending the kids to look for candles, and family bonding by candlelight ensues.Day 2 of the Advent Event - Candlelight
Relationships: Alex & Carlos Molina & Julie Molina & Ray Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina, Julie Molina & Ray Molina, Julie Molina & Reggie, Julie Molina's Mother/Ray Molina
Series: Julie and the Phantoms Advent Calender 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035969
Comments: 1
Kudos: 79





	Out of the Dark

Julie’s body sagged against the counter as her dad sighed, thanking the person on the phone before setting the device onto the counter. 

“So?” Julie looked up at him, hope gleaming in her eyes.

“They said it could be anywhere between an hour to maybe even three.” Ray gave another, tired sigh rubbing his hands over his face. “Go get the boys, have them help you find every candle that you can, we might need them.” 

“Got it, what’re you gonna do dad?” Julie asked, pushing herself off the counter and heading towards the stairs. 

“I will be calling Victoria, seeing if this reached her area too.” Julie could hear him pick up the phone, and she took that as her cue to grab Carlos. 

She peaked into his room, not seeing him on his bed, and a general glance around the room clued her into the fact that he may be hiding somewhere. She didn’t know why, but she would assume it had something to do with whatever hero-esque story he was playing into this week.

“Carlos, come help look for candles.” Julie called into the room. “Cover all up here, there sound be some in the bathroom and the hall cabinet, though I’m not sure about the attic.” 

It was quiet for a few more moments before a clunk noise resonated around the room, followed closely but a pained groan.

“Didn’t Dad tell you to stop trying to hide under your bed?” Julie asked, watching Carlos crawl from underneath the furniture. 

“Who’s to say? I don’t seem to recall that.” Carlos scoffed, lying horribly through his teeth. Out of the kindness in her heart, and to rush her brother along, she didn’t call him on his lie. 

“Whatever you say, booger-brains, come look for candles. I’m gonna go get the boys and tackle the basement and garage.” Carlos gave her a thumbs up as she gave him a pointed look, and they went their separate ways, her to the garage and him towards the hall closet. 

Julie threw open the large garage doors, looking around to the vacant garage. She checked the closet and bathroom in there, then the loft with still no sign of the boys. With a heavy sigh she climbs down, standing in front of where the boys’ instruments rested. Debating internally with herself for a moment, she hesitantly started singing one of the groups newer songs. 

After a moment of her singing, Julie noticed the air around each instrument warble for a moment before the boys all appeared, just a few seconds apart, their instruments already playing along to the song she was singing. She halted, giving the boys all an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry to pull you away from what you were doing, Dad gave us a task.” Julie looked over all of them, Luke and Reggie both inspecting their guitars and Alex getting off his stool to put his drumsticks back. 

“Does this task have to do with why our amps don’t seem to be working?” Luke looked at her, confusion evident in his voice. 

“Yup!” She clapped her hands together, throwing her arms out to the guys. “Powers out, we’re tasked with hunting down candles.” 

“Candles?” Luke whined, allowing his body to sag as he crossed his arms, a pout beginning to form on his face. 

“You’re not gettin’ out of this one bro, not after last time!” Reggie wagged a finger at Luke before turning and making eye contact with Alex, the two of them giving an exaggerated shiver at the same time. 

“Fine.” Luke whined, stomping up the stairs and into the loft, beginning to roughly search for candles. Alex and Reggie turned to Julie, both giving her an eyeroll at his antics. 

“Do one of you wanna stay here with Luke and the other come tackle the basement with me?” Julie looked between them.

“I’ll stay with him, I can keep him in line while you’re gone.” Alex gave her a soft smile and climbed up to the loft, beginning his search with Luke. 

“Alright, whenever you guys think you’ve found all the candles, come join us in the living room.” Julie and Reggie gave them a wave before heading out of the garage, and back inside the house. 

“I’d heard Ray mention a basement before, but I’ve never gone down here.” Reggie commented as they began their trek down the stairs. 

“Yeah, we don’t go down here very often anymore, we moved a lot of mom’s stuff down here upon Tía’s request, she said it would help us ‘move on’ from Mom’s death.” She gave him a weak smile, pulling her phone out and turning the flashlight on. 

“Not to...impose,” He started, giving her an apologetic smile. “I don’t think that’s a good response to grief. She may be grieving in her own way, but you should never force someone to grieve the same way you do. We process stuff differently.” He reached over, grabbing Julie’s hand to give it a quick squeeze before letting it go. 

“Thanks, Reg.” She smiled at him. “Hey, maybe when the power comes back, we can bring the guys down here and you can help me find stuff to redecorate my room with, I’ve been wanting to change it up anyway.” She nudged him lightly with her elbow, offering him a thankful smile. 

“Sounds good to me, but only if you’re completely up for it.” He gave her a small nod, before turning to a box and beginning to look. Julie looked around at the boxes, bags and racks of stuff that belonged to her Mom. 

“I think I am.” Julie tilted her head up, imagining how much her mom would love the boys and how they helped her open back up again. “I think I am.” She repeated quietly to herself, with more certainty than before. 

After collecting all the candles they could find in the basement, having to dump out one of her Mom’s bags to carry them all, her and Reggie finally left the basement, laughing as they entered the living room. Ray was going around, lighting the candles that Carlos, Alex and Luke had all found. Julie and Reggie’s laughter stopped dead upon seeing the three boys on the couch.

Carlos was covered in dust and cobwebs, his arms crossed and a pout on his face. Beside him was Luke, his arms crossed with a similar pout on his face, except he was covered in band-aids and scratches, most of them on his face and arms. Julie opened her mouth to comment, her eyes turning to Alex who held an ice pack to his left eye, scratches and band-aids trailing up his arm, a few stray ones on his face. 

“What happened to you guys?” Reggie squawked, looking between the three boys. 

“Don’t ask.” Came the response from not only the three on the couch, but Ray as well. Reggie and Julie made eye contact, shrugging and giving a small laugh before joining everyone on the couch. Sure they were all squished, but they made it work. 

As Ray lit the candles around the room, Julie pestered Carlos into sharing his story about the dust and cobwebs. She may owe him a month of bedtime songs, but it was worth it. Reggie managed to annoy the story out of Luke as well, who broke a lot easier than Alex would’ve. 

After Ray lit the last candle, he settled into a chair beside the couch, watching the kids all bicker and laugh, and cast his gaze toward the sky, giving a silent thank you to whoever managed to bring these boy’s to his daughter. 

“So, I was thinking, maybe after the power comes back on, me and the boys could go back down there and look through Mom's old stuff, I kind of wanna redecorate my room.” Julie questioned Ray, her dark eyes wide with hope. 

“Of course Míja, you’re welcome to decorate your room however, and with whatever, you want.” He gave her a small smile. “I’m sure Mom would love that idea.” Julie gave him a large smile, getting off the couch to give him a tight hug, the four boy’s laughter adding to the joyful aura in the room. 

It wasn’t too much later when the power kicked back on, the thrum of the electricity running through the house. The kids all whooped and hollered, making their way towards the basement immediately, excited to have a project to do. 

Ray laughed, getting up to blow all of the candles out, thinking of putting them in a box together and keeping it in his office. He paused, grabbing a large candle Rose had gotten for him, mostly as a joke, one year for their anniversary. It looked mostly normal, a glass jar with dark red wax with some floral scent to it, but instead of the label having the scent listed and some generic picture on it, it read ‘With you forever and always xoxo’ and an edited photo of him and her from when they first met. The photo was from when they were in their twenties, just exiting a venue where her and one of her bands had held their concert. The photo was edited with a heart made of flowers surrounding their heads. 

Giving a small laugh, Ray carried the candle into his office, setting the candle onto his desk, next to the last family photos they took before she died. 

“Forever and always.” He muttered to himself, and he swears, he hears Rose say it back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to yuleandthephantoms on tumblr for this awesome prompt, I'm excited for the rest of the prompts in the coming days!! 
> 
> Find me on twitter at panasonicgirl13 and on tumblr at panasonicgirl <3


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